


Apex Predator

by orphan_account



Series: The Agency [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 17:59:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16224359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Yukino could already feel beads of sweat dripping down the side of her forehead. One wrong move could result in her death at the hands of Sabertooth. She had to break the news to them in a way that won’t make them want to kill her. “I–I was assigned to be part o–of this team,” she said carefully.Shiro faceplanted into the carpet. Well there goes her plan.





	Apex Predator

**Author's Note:**

> for when we take different paths by ftlgbtales; week 1, day 6 — prompt: protect! this is late, but i hope it still works;;

* * *

 

Once Yukino had finally finished her trainee years, she had been thrilled to finally join a team. She had always wondered who she would get to work with. Would she join other recently graduated trainees, or would she join a veteran team? The girl had always hoped to join Sabertooth; right next to team Fairy Tail, it was one of the most powerful teams, even with just 5 members. While Fairy Tail would also be a good option, she’d much rather join Sabertooth — it had less members, which was good for Yukino’s social awkwardness. Not to mention that the latter team was known for its rowdiness. Another plus. So when Yukino had been informed the team she would join was indeed her dream team, she was overjoyed. It took her every ounce of restraint she had in her body to stop herself from squealing to death. The young woman had made it — she had made it through all those grueling years of hard work and joined the Sabertooth. It was everything she had ever hoped for, and she was absolutely ecstatic. The paperwork and moving into the dorms were issues she could ignore over the fact that she was now a member of Sabertooth. 

After nearly a full week, she had finally set up her place in the Saber dorms. The members were scheduled to return in an hour or so from their previous week–long mission, so she would meet them as soon as they returned. She sat on the couch of the main room, twiddling her thumbs anxiously. When were they going to arrive? In a few minutes? Or was there a delay? What would their reactions be to a new person in their dorms? 

Just as Yukino’s brain was about to explode, a loud “oof!” sound brought her back to reality. That was combined with the sound of someone slamming into the door and falling into the room, and even that was accompanied by loud remarks of “oh snap!” and “that was savage.” On the floor, there was a blond haired man the girl knew very well. That was operative Shiro, one of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth and a member of Dragon Alpha. Standing in the hallway just past the door was an entourage of odd–looking people. There was a very muscular man with long, messy green hair — operative Seven, the young woman knew — laughing at poor Shiro. Then there was the man with long and straight dirty blond hair, partnered with a posture that screamed either “theatre kid” or “nobility” — operative Zero, the man with the hair girls would kill for. He was standing on the right side of operative Seven with an amused smirk on his face. Slightly in front of him stood a man with a mahogany eye and black bangs that concealed the other — operative Shadow, the second half of the Twin Dragons and Shiro’s best friend. He stood with a very irritated look on his face as he glared at Shiro. “Little shit,” he growled towards his partner. 

Finally, there was the only woman among the group — she had long, sleek black hair with small buns done up on her head. Her face had quite a lot of makeup on it, but not to the point where she looked like a drag queen — hell, she even made blue lipstick look good. She had an elegant figure and an aura which radiated power and authority — the great lady of Sabertooth, the Queen of Tigers; the almighty operative Six. While the Twin Dragons were the most well–known members of Sabertooth, it was acknowledged by every member, Dragon or not, that she was the strongest. There was a reason why they called her their “lady.” Yukino had always aspired to be like her — strong, beautiful, and elegant. She was one of her idols from a young age, and to see her idol standing in the hallway — even if she was chuckling at Shiro’s expense — was a dream come true. 

“You guys are so mean! I’ll have you know I’m your captain,” the Dragon on the floor whined. “Your bitch ass deserved it,” his partner said nonchalantly. “Regardless of whether he deserved it or not, that was an excellent source of entertainment I will always remember,” Zero said smugly. Shiro pointed his middle finger at him, and Zero returned it with own. “You know, Mr. Shakespeare here is actually right,” Seven said, finally calming down after his series of belly laughs. Shadow then started prodding Shiro with his foot. “Meanie,” Shiro said with a pout. Then Seven decided to start singing about poor Shiro as he got stepped on by his Twin. Zero looked very irritated, but Yukino could tell he knew it was going to happen. 

In the middle of Seven’s impromptu song about how Shiro was a little bitch, Six moved forward and clapped her hands together. Immediately, the others stopped what they were doing. “Boys, boys — it appears we have a guest in our home,” she spoke as she glanced at Yukino. “A guest? I didn’t hear about any guests coming,” Shiro said, still lying under Shadow’s foot. “How is this idiot our captain?” The blonde on the floor proceeded to punch his best friend’s foot. “Asshole.” Zero decided to speak up, saying, “Not even I remember the mention of any guest. It must have been a surprise then, and if not, it would still be rude for us to not greet them, would it not?” The others nodded. “If that’s settled, I hope the married couple can stop arguing so we can get into the room,” Six said. The blonde Dragon then proceeded to stand up — Seven had helped him up, for Shadow refused to help him. Then they started heading towards Yukino’s spot by the sofa. 

“Yo,” Shiro said, a blinding grin on his face. He had what looked like very fluffy blond hair and bright cerulean eyes. “Whatcha doing in here? You lost or something?” Then Shadow elbowed him in the stomach, and the blonde groaned in pain. Seven and Zero snickered in the background. “That’s not how you greet a person,” he said irritably. He proceeded to face Yukino. “Hello. How are you?” The white–haired girl stared into his mahogany eyes and the scar on his face. Despite his slightly soft feminine appearance, he seemed quite intimidating when she looked closer. “H–Hello! I’m f–fine, thank you for asking,” she replied softly. “I see. I’m Shadow,” the man said. “I’m Yu— Eleven. I’m Eleven,” Yukino told him. He nodded, then he started to ask a question, but was interrupted by Six. “Well then. I do hope you have a good reason to stay within our section of the dorms,” she said venomously. “You currently reside in Sabertooth’s private dorms, and being here without a cause is a very good reason for us to kill you. You would not enjoy that, and neither would we — bloodstains create quite a mess.” The girl shuddered. She had heard rumors about Six, but she didn’t expect them to be true. Yukino felt Six loom over her as she shrunk into the couch. Zero decided to tapped the lady’s shoulder.

“My lady, I believe intimidating them is not a very good answer as of now. If they are an enemy, we shall deal with that later,” the man said. “Killing an innocent would also do a lot of damage to our reputation. It would be better for us to save face.” Six moved her glare towards him, but eventually let it go. Zero was always right — well, at the very least, he was right 98.5℅ of the time. “Very well. We request your full honesty in answering,” the black–haired woman said sternly. “Leave her be,” Shadow said in attempt to calm Six down. It just barely worked. “Yeah! She could be a messenger from the big guys, and I’d face hella paperwork if y’all killed her,” Shiro said. “You mean the rest of us do your paperwork, but you’re right,” Shadow remarked. “That’s besides the point,” Seven growled. “So, person, what are you doing here?” 

Yukino could already feel beads of sweat dripping down the side of her forehead. These people were scary, and it seemed she had already posed a threat to them. One wrong move could result in her death at the hands of Sabertooth. She had to break the news to them in a way that won’t make them want to kill her. “I–I was assigned to be part o–of this team,” she said carefully.

Shiro faceplanted into the carpet. Well there goes her plan. 

“I definitely do not recall the mention of a new member,” Zero said thoughtfully. “I’m fairly sure we were not expecting one.” Shadow shook his head. “There’s a chance it was mentioned to Shiro, but he probably forgot. That dumbass.” An indignant noise came from the blond on the floor. He was ignored by his teammates. “Whatever it is, I think we have to make sure, just in case,” Seven said. The others nodded in agreement. “Zero?” Said man took his cue instantly, his red mask glowing as light glazed over his eyes. While Yukino was fairly terrified — for good reason; these people were trying to find a good reason not to kill her — she was still very curious as to how his mask worked. They had learnt about the basics of the technology operatives used, but this was something she hadn’t seen before. It was mesmerizing, to say the least. 

Zero’s mask turned off, pulling Yukino out of her trance. “I have thoroughly checked all the files relating to any new member of Sabertooth, and one of the Trimens has confirmed we do have a new member,” he said. “You are not joking, right?” The blond shook his head at Six. “Afraid not, milady. You could check the Archive if you need more proof,” he replied calmly. The group was quiet for a moment as the team thoroughly examined Yukino. She felt fairly awkward in her position; until Shiro suddenly stood up, nearly giving the white–haired woman a heart attack while effectively breaking the ice. “We got ourselves a new member! So: hi, new member, welcome to Chili’s,” he said excitedly. Once again, he got elbowed in the stomach by the second Twin Dragon, who looked fairly irate at this point. “This house may acknowledge gender–neutral pronouns, all sexual identities, and all gender identities, but we do not allow your references and Seven’s singing,” he growled. “Hey!” Zero snickered. “He only speaks the truth,” he said. “Meani—” Seven was interrupted by Six, who looked like everything in her mind just finished processing at that moment. Her eyes had opened wide, for they had been lidded earlier. “A new member, huh? Welcome to the team,” she said nonchalantly. Despite her tone, Yukino could feel an immense meaning behind her words. “Boys, it’s shower time. You all stink. The new member’s first impression of you shouldn’t be ‘these guys smell.’” On her orders, the boys rushed towards their bathrooms. The rumors of her authority over them must have been true.

“I apologize for threatening you earlier,” she heard Six tell her. Yukino, from her spot, turned to face Six. “It comes as a habit. There have been quite a few intruders over my time in Sabertooth.” Yukino smiled, then replied, “It’s fine. You always do have to be suspicious of everyone in an agency like this. ” Six nodded. “That is true. Though nowadays we are only suspicious of strangers. It is much better than our previous dynamic,” she said. “Nowadays?” The black–haired woman’s eyes widened a bit, and said, “My mistake. Something happened at Sabertooth before you arrived; it was about a year or two ago.” Yukino had never heard of anything happening in Sabertooth; that said a lot because she always kept up with news regarding Sabertooth. Was it a private matter? Was she allowed to ask? Six noticed her thoughtful look and added, “I am sure even the most devoted Sabertooth fan would not know of what happened. Though as a new member, I assume you will learn of what happened soon.” 

“Oh, I see,” the girl remarked. That was a great relief. “But will they tell me? If it’s private, why would they tell a new member about things like that?” Now, usually Yukino was very shy. Around this woman, however, she felt as if she could converse with her forever; it was as if that terrifying aura she gave off refused to affect Yukino. The lady merely chuckled in response. “I assure you, Shiro would probably spill everything out within your first few minutes of speaking with him. If you ask nicely enough, Zero and Seven might just tell you a few thing themselves.” Yukino nodded in understanding, and then asked, “What about Shadow?” Six answered, “He will be a harder nut to crack, but you will eventually get through to him. He is quite soft for a Dragon, if we exclude Shiro. Except for that mouth of his.” The white–haired girl nodded. She had already heard him cuss numerous times. “You won’t be seeing them often, anyways,” Six added. “They might be Tigers, but they are Dragons, too. They will probably spend more time at HOES instead of here.” Yukino wondered if she heard that wrong. “HOES?” The black–haired woman nodded. “HOES is the name of Dragon Alpha’s dorms – it stands for ‘House of Exceptional Spies.’ The Dragons are a bit… immature. Though that isn’t important right now,” she answered. “I see.” Six then proceeded to check the clock on the wall. “I’m afraid I have to leave right now,” she said. “I need to clean myself up and head to the offices.”

“Oh, okay. It was fun talking to you,” Yukino said sweetly. “I found it enjoyable as well. I believe we will speak with one another more often, for we are now teammates,” the lady replied. “Your name is Snow, correct?” The younger woman nodded. “I see. I assume you already know mine, judging by how you never asked about the others’.” The newest Tiger flushed a light shade of pink. No one had commented on her knowledge of their names, so she had assumed they didn’t notice or care. Six laughed. “It’s fine. I am quite honoured. Most people just know our Dragons’ names. Anyways, I should get moving. I feel like a mess after that mission, and my makeup feels awful. I’ll see you later.” Of course, Yukino was very tempted to tell her she looked just fine — wonderful, even — but she knew the Queen of Tigers had to go. “Goodbye!”

* * *

 

It was only Snow’s second week in, and she had already memorized the hierarchy of Sabertooth. Both Shadow and Seven were placed at the bottom of the Tigers’ food chain. It was always them getting bullied, which wasn’t quite Yukino’s first impression of them — Shiro had been stepped on by Shadow, for goodness sake! Turns out Shiro really adored teasing his Twin. A lot. Above Shadow and Seven was Shiro, Sabertooth’s captain. While he was in charge of commanding the team and also capable of teasing those below him, there were still two people above him. The first person above him on the food chain was Zero — he had everyone’s secrets, and he definitely had a lot of wit. It was fitting for him to be up there; he was the Gretchen Wieners of Sabertooth. 

(That description was seared into her mind by Shiro, who (along with Seven) dragged her and Shadow to a showing of Mean Girls.) 

At the very top, however, was their lady — the almighty Six, the Queen of Tigers. Yukino probably had a ridiculously long list of reasons why she idolized and adored her, but it was safe to say that every member of Sabertooth treated her like a queen for their own reasons. They adored yet feared her at the exact same time. Her presence instilled fear into the hearts of her own team. Snow had always wondered why none of them (read: Shiro) were hitting on Six. It turned out that the reason why was because she was off-limits, the one above them all. She was untouchable on her throne — technically, the only throne in the dorms’ was Shiro’s, but that was irrelevant.

However, Snow had never been affected by their mistress’ intimidating presence. While she couldn’t place a finger on it, she could describe the feeling fairly well. It was as if she scared off those who were around Yukino, but never Yukino herself. She decided to label it “protection.” It was almost fun, being in the queen of beasts’ pride — the others got picked on while she remained perfectly safe, for she was on Six’s side. It was as if when Sabertooth’s lady had practically become her guardian, she had been placed right on top with her. 

The first time their lady had protected her — albeit in her own Six way — was during one of their first missions altogether. One of the operatives of the EXO Unit had gone missing, so the team was supposed to find them. The lost operative turned out to be Frosch, who was pretty much Shadow’s child. So of course, the mission was given to his team. (He had practically begged for the mission, but you didn’t hear it from her.) Frosch had recently escaped captivity — they were held hostage to get information out of their teammates — but got lost on their way back. Sabertooth had split up to search for them, with Seven and Zero scouting the area as a pair. The others — being Shadow, Shiro, Six, Snow, and Lector (a teammate of Frosch’s) — had found Frosch standing beside a map. Lector explained that Frosch had a bad sense of direction, and that they were probably trying to get back on their own. Shiro, Six, and Snow had immediately dashed to get Frosch before they could get lost again, but Shadow had put his hand forward to stop them.

Of course, things never turn out right for him, so instead his hand landed right on Yukino’s breasts. She had flushed a bright shade of red. After realizing his mistake, Shadow immediately pulled his hand away and started apologizing in incoherent phrases. “Oh God, Snow, I’m s–sorry, holy crap, uh, I didn’t m–mean to do that,” he stammered. Yukino was about to tell him she forgave him, but was interrupted by a low growl from Six. “Rogue, you little shit…” She violently grabbed him by the arm and flipped him onto the ground. It was a surprisingly smooth movement, and in any other context would have been fairly epic to watch. A loud groan of pain came from Shadow as he lay on the floor. Shiro and Lector did their best to suppress their chuckles. The man on the ground glared at the pair; the blond then mouthed something to his Twin, which looked a bit like “Babe, you screwed up big time!”

“I am sure that you are aware of proper etiquette, Cheney. An important part of said etiquette includes not touching a female’s body without permission, am I right?” Her tone was calm yet terrifying; it made chills run down Yukino’s back. No wonder she was their queen. “Y-Yes, milady,” he replied. “Good. I hope you never do that again,” she said, clapping her hands together as if cleaning them. “If you do, I shall remind you of the consequences until you remember,” she added while stepping her stilettos into his arm. The Dragon nodded weakly as he suppressed a scream of pain. Then she glanced to Yukino. “Are you okay? Do I need to punish him some more?” Snow shook her head ‘no’ extremely quickly. That was enough, as she felt quite sorry for him. “Very well. If any of the boys’ do anything like this, don’t be afraid to tell me. I will deal with them accordingly.” The white–haired woman let out a sigh of relief. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her. Their mistress clapped her hands together as if dusting them off. Six then faced the man she just attacked and asked casually, “Now tell me, why should we not get Frosch right now?”

* * *

 

It was Yukino’s 5th month in, and she had to say that she was enjoying her time with Sabertooth. While she had been expecting quite a bit of bullying from the others — being a new member and having just graduated — she had managed to earn the others’ respect fairly quickly. Mainly because of Six — or Minerva, the newest member discovered. She had taken her to the top of their food chain, and Yukino would always be relieved that there was practically no chance of her facing the same treatment as the others. It was kind of enjoyable watching the others get picked on while knowing she was perfectly safe. 

Of course, Minerva’s protection didn’t only apply to within the team. She put an effort into protecting Yukino from any hazards on missions, too.

The most memorable instance was an infiltration and retrieval assignment. The two female members of Sabertooth were required to sneak into a company’s offices and collect some information. That was usually the job of Shadow and Zero, but they had been busy and the assignment needed to be completed urgently. Shiro and Seven were too incompetent, so the two remaining members of their team were stuck doing the job. They had been warned about how dangerous it was, but Six had dismissed it in favour of filing her nails. They had got ruined during her previous mission. Snow and Six had gotten their mission briefings and were sent to go immediately, as the files they needed were extremely important. 

A few hours after said debriefings, they had entered the building. Not really entered, though — they had crawled through the air vents. It was an organization called SAU — for the few minutes they had been inside, they could already tell that this place dealt in some shady business. Everyone they had seen through the vents seemed extremely suspicious of each other, and the aura surrounding the place was generally very negative. They had managed to find the control room, and Yukino had been able to extract the files from a glass podium, which apparently functioned as one of the main computers. However, they had a run–in with a group of guards on their way out. 

Minerva had stood in front of Yukino and shot at the guards, who were dressed in black. “I’ll take them, while you hack the exit,” she ordered, with her partner obeying willingly. Snow ram towards the door and turned on her visor. She started entering the code while Six held the guards back. Of course, even with her skill, the squadron was far too large to handle without a few injuries. A man had managed to shoot her in the hand, effectively knocking the shotgun she used out of her hand. The bullet had gone deep, as shown by the amount of blood trickling onto the ground. 

At this moment, Yukino was tempted to help her, but she knew Minerva could handle it. She was almost right, for Minerva had grabbed a pistol using her other hand as rapid shots started firing at their foes. Snow was about to stop and cheer her on, but she was too busy fixing up the exit. Not all things last, however. A woman dressed in black had shot Six’s shoulder, causing her to drop the gun. A look of resentment flashed across Six’s face as she dropped to the floor. She was bleeding, and she was bleeding a lot.

While Minerva was down, Yukino couldn’t stop herself. She had finished opening the door anyways, so she had time. She ran towards the dark–haired woman and murmured, “You’ll be fine. I’ll help you out of here.” Then she picked her up to drag her out of the chamber. At first Six refused to be carried, but her partner had been firm and took her anyway. Yukino kept reassuring her that she would be okay, while Minerva remained silent. They had stormed out of the building through an empty hallway and emergency exit. Seven and Shiro turned out to be waiting there with a car, so that they could dash off at any minute. The pale–haired woman thanked them, and Shiro slammed his foot into the accelerate button. They were heading home. 

Of course, the adrenaline of the mission had made them forget a lot of smaller details. When they reached the agency, the first person they went to was Zero. He sterilized and bandaged Six’s arms and hands, and she thanked him. As soon as they had him upload the files onto the server, they were left to face the music. They were sitting on the couch in the dorm’s living room when Minerva worked up the courage to ask a question. “Yukino?” The girl turned towards the lady. Did she do something wrong? “Yes?” Six had been quiet up from their escape until now, with the exception of a few words to Shiro and Zero. “Why didn’t you leave back then? You could have died,” she asked. “There was no need to save me, as I had nothing of value on me.”

That, Yukino believed, was an odd statement to make. Yukino had just saved her life, yet there she was — questioning her. She couldn’t help but be confused, and maybe a bit offended. “Why wouldn’t I help you?”

“There was no reason to help me,” she answered nonchalantly. “If you hadn’t gotten lucky, the entire mission would have been a failure.” The younger of the two shook her head. “You might be right, but I couldn’t risk it. You’re my partner, right? So I had to help you, even if it meant risking my life in the process.” Sabertooth’s lady went quiet for a few moments. Then she let out a hearty laugh. “That is an interesting point of view. You remind me of how Shadow used to be. Yet I still can’t understand why.” 

“Well, if this reason makes more sense, you’ve always protected me — on all our other missions, and from the others. You could say I felt in debt,” Yukino said. Six nodded. “That seems a bit more comprehensible. An honourable woman always pays back what another gives her, I believe,” she commented with a note of approval. The two went silent for a while. Snow was about to say something to break the silence, but Minerva spoke first. “You know, Yukino, I have to admit that I’m glad you joined us. It was a bit lonely being surrounded by men — clueless, idiotic men at that. You could say you’re my favourite.” The white–haired woman swelled up with pride at being complimented by her idol. Even though they were now teammates, her adoration for the woman still remained.

Suddenly, Six shot up and faced Yukino. With a smirk on her face, she leaned down to plant a small kiss on her forehead. Snow turned a bright shade of pink. “And I guess from now on you’ll always be in debt, for as my new favourite, I will always be protecting you.” 

Then she left; of course she left. It didn’t matter now, however. Yukino blushed and smiled at the thought; the Queen of Tigers, the apex predator of Sabertooth, their lady and mistress, and every other title given to her disappeared. She was now her protector, and that ’s all that mattered. 

(And maybe, just maybe, she could be more.) 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ¹ title is a reference to a song from the broadway edition of mean girls, “apex predator”
> 
> ² frosch is agender in this fic
> 
> ³ there’s a bit of hidden stingue and orfus, if you squint
> 
> ⁴ first fanfic ever! so that’s a thing


End file.
